'Allergic to actual information': Elon Musk routed for spreading another debunked conspiracy theory

18 May 2023

For the second time in as many days, Twitter owner Elon Musk was routed on his own platform for spreading a conspiracy theory.

On Thursday morning, journalist Paul D. Thacker recalled in a thread how Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz's account was suspended after she published an article criticizing Musk for reinstating users who spread misinformation. In this case, Lorenz had reported "NevilleTheCat" for stating that her uncle "owns Internet Archive," which Thacker pointed out never actually violated Twitter's terms of service. Thacker also chronicled Lorenz's run-ins with other people whom she "doxxed" and that subsequently fought back.

The claim about Lorenz's uncle, however, is false. But that did not stop Musk from repeating it.

"Her uncle owns the Wayback machine & you're saying he deleted information for nepotism? That's a big deal," Musk commented to Thacker.

Two hours later, Musk was fact-checked by Brewster Kahle — the man in charge of the open library.

"I am the Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive, a non-profit public charity and a library which runs the Wayback Machine-- no one 'owns' the Internet Archive," Kahle said, adding that "Taylor Lorenz is not my niece, nor have I met her."

Swift mockery immediately followed.

Ben Collins: "Elon Musk is once again repeating lies first spread months ago by white supremacists on the internet at face value, then never doing anything about it when he's immediately corrected by people who know actual information. Elon Musk has an internet radicalization problem. He spends his time online responding to and interacting with white supremacist talking points and amplifying their messages. This has been happening out in the open for months. It's time to start covering him as such."

Matt Binder: "Today's Twitter Files bombshell is that Taylor Lorenz's uncle is the owner of the Internet Archive which is not true and Elon Musk and his 'journalist' believe this simply because they don't know that anyone can request their own content be removed from the Wayback Machine."

Kara Swisher: "Elon Musk is frequently wrong, but never in doubt, usually because he relies on info from the bought and paid for or the malevolently ignorant. But how much do I love @brewster_kahle who has done so much important work to preserve the Internet and actually defend free speech."

Alex Howard: "This correction by @Brewster_Kahle is what good @communitynotes should be: -Cites a high-quality source (Librarian of @InternetArchive) -Easy to understand -Directly addresses @ElonMusk's false claim -Provides important context -Neutral, unbiased language."

Brian No Checkmark W.: "Your daily reminder that Elon Musk is astonishingly ignorant yet believes he has to weigh in on every little conspiracy floated on Twitter."

Linette Lopez: "Yet another example of @elonmusk believing whatever paranoid delusion makes his forever virgin fans happy. It's like he's allergic to actual information."

Musk University | Quotes: "'Easy to fool people, but it is almost impossible to convince people that they have been fooled.' | Elon Musk"

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